The group of students and staff who became stranded in Turkey during the attempted military coup.

A spokeswoman for the school told the Birmingham Mail: “I can confirm they got on the flight which was a little delayed. They are due to land in Capetown at around 11am.”

The group of students and staff from Arthur Terry School arrived in South Africa safe and well.

An update on the school's website read: "All good. Arrived at Durban to drop off passengers then onto Cape Town; arriving just after lunch. Transport waiting. All slept really well."

The drama unfolded when the group landed in Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Friday night. They were due to get the connecting flight to South Africa for the 10-day visit a couple of hours later, but they arrived in the midst of the attempted coup.

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At least 265 people were killed in clashes between the armed forces and police. Scores of civilians were among the dead.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told the media the situation was under control.

Parents were left worried sick, with one mum saying it was the “longest night of our lives”.

She wrote on Facebook: “All the Arthur Terry South Africa trip kids arrived at Ataturk airport just before the news reported a military coup. All flights were grounded. They have seen tanks on the runway, fighter jets flying over and heard the explosion that was reported as a bomb.

“At one point all chaos ensued when someone shouted ‘gun’ and everyone started to run with people shouting ‘get down, get down’.